MSP 2007 resource views unresponsive

[TraceyH]

I am running MSP2007 SP1. I have an 8.5MB 'standalone' file. When I switch
from Gantt to Resource Pool or Resource Usage view MSP hangs or is really
slow (takes up to 5min to render or 'hangs')

I have 200 resources. I have tried 'save as' and recreating the file in a
new project (which shrunk the file sized from 11MB to 8.5MB but did nothing
to accelerate responsiveness.) I have turned off the 'auto calc' feature in
MS Project. I believe I have enough Virtual Memory. I've 'cleaned up' my PC
(defragged, moved all other files to a network drive) removed temp and
unneeded files (which was done by our IT dept). The file 'hangs' on other
co-workers PCs as well. I have read similar posts but can find no explanation
which suits my problem.

Thanks

 

[JulieS]

Hi TraceyH,

I am guessing the file is stored on a network drive? Are you using
a Resource Pool file for the 200 resources? If you move the file(s)
locally, is response time faster?

What are the specifications on the hardware you are running? How
much RAM on the PC? How many other programs are you running at the
time?

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[TraceyH]

Hi Julie, this file is 'local' and the resource pool is within the file
itself. My Virtual memory is 2046MB (am running XP) and perfomance settings
are set to 'adjust for best performace of programs'

 

[Rob Schneider]

2046 mb, from recollection, is a bit high for XP virtual memory.
Performance can degrade if it gets too big. It may not make any
different with your problem, but try bring that back a bit. Reset and
let Windows give you a recommended amount (and if it recommends then
2046, then leave it there I guess). See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417 for a bit of guidance.

8.5 mb Project file is pretty big. Always that big? Has some corruption
crept in recently? See
http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm#Handling_project_file_corruption_and/or_bloat.

Can you think what might have changed on the computer around the time
you started getting unsatisfied with how it was working? Any new
anti-virus software running that might be interfering?

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[JulieS]

Thanks for the additional information Tracey. A couple of
follow-ups in addition to Rob's good advice. You note you've turned
off "autocalc" -- as there are two place where calculation occurs,
could you be more specific? For example, there is an automatic
leveling feature in resource leveling as well as a calculation
setting in Tools > Options.

Do any of your users have Project 2007 with SP-2 installed? You
might try installing SP-2. Rebulding the file from XML may also
decrease file size and increase speed. You also see some
improvement in response by turning off changing highlighting.

You note you have 200 resources, how many tasks? Is there any
possibility of splitting the project into smaller pieces and using a
true resource pool file?

Julie

 

[TraceyH]

I am in a corporate IT environment. I'll have them check the memory and for
updates they may have 'pushed'. I can't remember when the issue started but I
think performance just got slower as file size increased. I rebuilt the file
using the FAQ you reference by copying into a new MS project file, but sill
have the responsivemness issues. I have 5 recurring PM tasks of approx 800
lines EACH. removing them improved the performance somewhat but Project still
'hung' when I tried to level resources...any know issues with using
'recurring tasks'?

 

[TraceyH]

I turned of calculations in resource leveling and 'calculation' tab. I alos
just turned off higlighting...alas no improvement. Have you heard of
'add-ins' interfereing w/performance? A colleague mentioned this as a
possibility.

I'll see if my IT dept can install SP2. Unfortunately I can't use a resource
pool because of how our PMO extracts info from the file.

 

[JulieS]

Hi TracyH,

By default recurring tasks have a priority of 1000, meaning do not
level. Certainly 3500 tasks with do not level is likely causing
some delay. However, the idea that you have 3500 tasks which are
just PM tasks, makes me believe you must have 10,000+- tasks in the
project??

Julie

 

[JulieS]

I guess I would have to ask, what "add-ins" are you referring to.
It sounds from your other post that this is a massive file if you
have 3500+ recurring tasks alone. How many tasks are in your
project? How can you begin to manage a project with that many
tasks?

Julie

 

[TraceyH]

I have found something odd that I think might be indicative of file
corruption. While working in the 'resource view' I noticed that in the 'work'
column I have several resources with tasks/hours assigned to them. Tasks have
not been completed. The tasks display the work hours correctly, but the
roll-up = 0hrs

 

[JulieS]

Hi TracyH,

Yes, from what you describe, it sounds like something is going on.
I'm not clear on what you mean by the "resource view" -- there are a
number of resource views -- are you talking about the Resource Usage
view? If so, what you see are not "tasks" underneath each
resource's name, they are assignments. If you look at the work
field, the assignments should show the amount of work for each
assignment and the resource row should show the total work for that
resource on all assignments in the project. Again, not sure what
you mean by "roll-up".

I suggest getting SP-2 installed first and then rebuilding the file
through Save As XML and the open the XML file.

Julie

 

[TraceyH]

Hi Jule. Yes, I meant Resource usage view and the work 'assignments'. the
assignments show the work hours assigned but the total hours shows 0.
Strangely I was able to make the totals add correctly by deleting and
re-adding actual work that had been applied to ANY task...which corrected the
problem for all tasks. I will try your other suggestions along with my IT
Dept (unfortunately they have not yet approved of installing SP2...just
bureaucracy)

 

[JulieS]

Hi Tracy,

Yes, I have seen what you describe as well as the "fix" of editing
any assignment. I don't recall if this was fixed in SP-2, but now
that you note the fix, I recall seeing this when 2007 was first
released. Go luck getting the service pack installed.

Julie